Governor Newsom has signed into law a bill to expedite construction of housing by religious institutions, and nonprofit colleges. It’s Senate Bill 4, also known as the YIGBY law, which stands for “Yes In God’s Backyard,” and it will streamline the permit process for churches, synagogues, mosques, any faith-based organization that is willing to build affordable housing on its property, along with nonprofit schools of higher education. Experts say it could unlock tens of thousands of acres of land for development, much of it right here in the central Bay Area. For more, Doug Sovern, Brett Burkhart and Patti Reising spoke with Muhammad Alameldin, Policy Associate at UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation, and the co-author of a recent report on this very legislation.
